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US Losing its Scientific Dominance
ScaredSilly writes "The New York Times is reporting that the US is losing its dominance in the sciences. They cite lowering research budgets, increased military spending and 'reverse brain-drain': fewer techies staying in the US after school. I personally think that our comparatively crappy K-12 educational system, and an increased dominance of military research over core scientific research plays a big role. (It's easy to get DARPA, DoD and DoE funding, but difficult to get NSF funding). What do you folks think?"
You mean the good ol' USA had scientific dominence at one time? Hogwash!
geek n performer who performs morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken
OUTSOURCING!
Why have any scientific thought at all when you can just pay for morons to buy the idea that they are supposed to be stupid?
That's what's great about America, Corporations don't have to be loyal, pay taxes, or even have a brain. PHB's rule and the decent people are screwed daily. What a country!
If you don't recognize my sarcasm, that is simply too bad.
Have a nice day.
All Ad hominem replies happily ignored as the sender shall be deemed to lack the faculties to comprehend the equation.
Look at the chart: in 1966, military spending was 8% of U.S. GDP
h tml
In 2001, military spending was 3% of GDP
http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2001/4-2.gif
(Office of Management and Budget. Full article:)
http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2001/guide04.
Everyone knows the U.S. spends less on national defense as a percentage of its wealth than decades ago!
Academic achievement needs be measured across decades, not on a budget spike from 2003, unless you yourself are some sort of ignorant journalist without historical perspective, product of the teacher unions, I guess.
The next pasture is always greener
A-f**king-men brother.
Its the public schools and the liberal NEA babies that poured dog crap into the minds of our young.
Been noticing the intellegence of the graduated slipping away for the last coupla decades now.
Guess self-esteem and non-rigorous learning are far lower priorities than the dumb hippies figured.guess the old phrase shoulda went "first we kill all the teachers" rather than lawyers although neither is a bad idea.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Not all private schools are CHRISTIAN. Some are JEWISH... some are MUSLIM... some aren't even associated with religion.
But nonetheless, shouldn't parents have a CHOICE of where to send their children? Nope! According to YOU, you should only have a choice if you're rich enough to afford it!
When you read the article keep in mind that over the past few years the NY Times has lost all credibility as an objective source , with reporters falsifying stories and being a blatant mouthpiece for liberal politics.
So don't draw any conclusions from an NYT article.
In the lower grades (I teach 7/8 science), teachers are much more concerned about students feelings than we are in the upper grades. However, we in the upper grades do need to be cognizant of students' feelings. Brain research (and experience) tells us that if students do not feel safe (physically and emotionally) then they physically cannot learn. Every year, I have students that require me to spend hours with them sorting out issues related to their attitude/feelings. Most often (though the elementary teachers you have come into contact with fall into this category), parents support and reinforce (in ways many are unaware) the feeling on the part of the students that the teacher needs to do everything for them and be nice about it. I can't tell you the number of parents who feel I should treat their child differently or make exceptions for their kid because 'he/she is trying to get organized.'
I am very respected by the parents and administration in my district, but I require students to accept responsibility for the consequences of what they do and fail to do, even at the temporary peril of their self-esteem. (I think it does them good in the long run.) I cannot speak for elementary teachers (indeed, I do not have the patience to sit in a room with 20-30 small children) or for any teacher other than myself in that regard.
Politics drive most of the practices in public schools. "All children will read by the 3rd grade." This sounds noble, but what about those (mostly boys) who are not developmentally ready? Where is the funding for the extra help for those kids? "No Child Left Behind." Good idea. Let's pay for that by cutting school funding ( at the state level currently at the level it was 3 years ago, not factoring in inflation) at the federal level to an amount that will fund virtually nothing. "Highly Qualified" Good idea...but let's not think about the areas of certification available when people graduated from college and took the various certification tests. Or the differing areas and responsibilities of special education teachers.
The promotion issue is based on research. There are many studies that have concluded that 80% of the kids who are retained do not graduate from high school. The fly in the ointment is that, while the studies have linked graduation rates to retention, they have not established a definitive cause because it's impossible to do. There are too many factors that play into graduation rates. Your child is lucky to have you for a parent. The time you put into helping your child learn, teaching them how to learn and modeling work ethic will ensure that your child will be successful no matter what they do. I hope I can instill the same ethics in my girls, who are just learning to walk and talk.
[In my opinion] It is the responsibility of the school to foster both individual achievment and group (team) skills. Many of the more interesting lessons I teach (and that are applicable to a student's life) require kids to work with others. This format is inherently problematic because I can't control environmental or emotional factors that happen outside my classroom. My best solution so far is to let them choose their own groups. Public education is like everything else- you get out what you put in.
In my experience, teacher unions protest testing practices that are unfair to students or unfairly penalize teachers. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of bad teachers out there (even now I contemplate leaving teaching for something that pays a livable wage), but there are plenty of good ones as well. When a teacher union protests testing, I have found that 90% of the time they have valid complaints (which are usually not explained by the press. In Michigan, all of the newspapers that are not Detroit papers are owned by an anti-education group that pour money into voucher initiatives, which are proven to only aid the rich.)
As far as the evolution thing goes...welcome to the Bible Belt. Get active or shut up. Your legislators